The Houston Astros were left for dead by many when they were down four runs entering the eighth inning in Tuesday’s ALDS opener against the Seattle Mariners.
But Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez had other plans.
Bregman hit a two-run blast to put the game at 7-5 in the eighth, and then Alvarez went yard in the ninth frame with two on base to seal the Astros’ stunning comeback win, 8-7.
Alvarez’s blast came against starting pitcher Robbie Ray.
Ray won the AL Cy Young award last year with the Toronto Blue Jays, with a brilliant 2.84 ERA.
However, he wasn’t as sharp this year, with a 3.71 ERA.
His strikeout rate dipped from 32.1% to 27.4%.
It was evident that he wasn’t quite as good as last year in 2022, but Mariners manager Scott Servais sent him in the bottom of the ninth against one of the best hitters in the world.
He probably shouldn’t have done that.
Ryan Webb Thinks Relievers Should Take Care Of High Leverage, Late Innings
A former MLB pitcher believes relievers should take care of late innings.
“Don’t bring in a starter to do a relievers job,” he tweeted.
Don’t bring in a starter to do a relievers job.
— Ryan Webb (@RyanWebb58) October 11, 2022
Webb pitched 393.1 innings from 2009 to 2016 in MLB, and left a 3.43 ERA.
All of those games came in relief so he knows what he is talking about.
The primary problem is that Servais thought a lefty would give him a significant matchup advantage over Alvarez, a left-handed hitter.
But Alvarez had a 183 wRC+ against lefties and a 186 mark against righties: he was a monster against everybody during the regular season.
For his career, he has a 163 wRC+ against southpaws and a 165 mark against righties.
He has no weaknesses, and to neutralize him, you have to bring in your best available reliever no matter the hand.
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